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My handful of coaster questions...

Yea...I knew the wheels touched, but wasnt sure exactly why. The whole spring loaded mechanism clears up a lot to be honest.
 
Hyde244 said:
However, a related stat which I do know is true, for Kingda Ka to launch the extra 36 ft. in height over TTD, it requires 80% more energy than TTD's launch.
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Interesting! Quite ironic as it is only 36 ft. taller! Thanks for that one Hyde. And UC, as always - thanks again for your feedback/explanations :)
 
^ The irony lies in the exponential nature of physics - requiring massively more energy to do more work.
 
Hyde244 said:
^ The irony lies in the exponential nature of physics - requiring massively more energy to do more work.
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Yeah! No wonder these things have been described as being "engineering nightmares"!
 
OH! But wait... you also have to note that Kingda Ka's launch is actually quicker, reaching its maximum speed within a shorter period of time (3.5s vs. 4s on TTD). That would help to explain it as well :)
 
ava1enzue1a said:
- What's the length of Top Thrill Dragster's launch section?

Thanks in advance!
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If you assume the ride's advertised 0-120mph in 4 seconds to be constant acceleration (which it isn't), then you can approximate the length of the launch track using calculus. I worked it out quite a few years ago as a high school assignment, but can't remember the answer. I do remember that I calculated the force of the launch to be just less than 1G. Just because I'm a nerd, I will work it out again and post my calculation later.
 
Luxornv said:
ava1enzue1a said:
- What's the length of Top Thrill Dragster's launch section?

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

If you assume the ride's advertised 0-120mph in 4 seconds to be constant acceleration (which it isn't), then you can approximate the length of the launch track using calculus. I worked it out quite a few years ago as a high school assignment, but can't remember the answer. I do remember that I calculated the force of the launch to be just less than 1G. Just because I'm a nerd, I will work it out again and post my calculation later.
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OR - you just open up Google Earth and use the ruler tool to measure the picture. ;)

I make it around 180m, but it's only approximate. Better than you'll do by calculation though. :p
 
Hixee said:
I make it around 180m, but it's only approximate. Better than you'll do by calculation though. :p
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Probably, because I make a lot of assumptions in that calculation. Turns out I'm also very lazy and didn't get around to doing that last night :p
 
There is no way you can claim that level of accuracy. No way. Why has the error changed? Were you just guessing the first time?
 
To bck up UC for a quick moment, Ive personally see it hit 129 on a good day.

Also, my understanding of engineering is that you must be as accurate as humanly possible. There is no room for error.
 
Wow! You guys are getting pretty technical here, which is cool :)

Next question: Anyone know the height of Alpengeist's cobra roll, from base to apex? It looks to be on the larger side for its type/element. I'm rly curious about this.

I'd guesstimate it to be around 90ft (which would stand a total of 100ft over the Rhine River, given my additional guesstimate that its base stands 10ft in elevation compared to that), but I could be wrong.

P.S. I wonder if we could actually contact park operations(?) or even the ride manufacturers about these kinds of questions. Actually, that's a question in itself lol. Anyone know?
 
Also: why does Leviathan only have 8 cars instead of 9? I thought B&M's standard for this style was to have 9 cars e.g. Apollo's Chariot, Nitro and Silver Star to name a few. Moreover, it seems to make more sense that they would have chosen 9 for a giga like Leviathan as it would seem more appropriate for its large-scale profile. So for them to have chosen 8 cars in this sense is quite ironic given that smaller ones i.e. hypers/megas have 9!

What makes this even more confusing is that 1) a coaster like Leviathan would have had a lot of hype (e.g. "B&M's first giga!") and so you would figure a lot of popularity/attraction for it; 2) given it is a giga the ride duration is relatively longer in comparison with other B&M sit-downs so larger time gaps in between train cycles. Given these factors you think they would have had even more reason to prefer 9 cars for a more efficient ride capacity.

The only reason I could think of is that maybe they wanted to emphasize the sheer size of this ride ("Leviathan"), as an 8-car train does look smaller on the layout, making the hills/elements themselves appear "larger". But come on, it's only 1 less car! Otherwise having 9 cars would seem to be the better alternative while taking into account that consideration for the ride's capacity: a total of 4 extra riders for each cycle, adding up to a much better rph (riders per hour).

My question remains: why 8 cars instead of 9!? Anyone have any idea? Thanks in advance!
 
For Levaithan, I think it's to do with space available in in the station. I know they chose the old train design over the new one to due the old design taking up less track space and going round corners easier.
 
^ I considered that possibility as well; but come on we're talking just one extra car; they couldn't have made the station just a little longer to fit it in? There seems to be plenty of room for it. Come on, it's Leviathan! :) We're talking larger elements, taking up lots of space etc. 8 cars = still unorthodox.
 
All the coasters with the 'new' trains have 8 cars. So Leviathan isn't anything out of the ordinary.
 
So how is having 8 cars vs. 9 relevant to the "new" train design? Quantity of cars vs. design ─ what's the correlation here for Leviathan?
 
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